How Facebook is preparing for a surge in depressed and anxious users

The COVID-19 pandemic is now surging around the world, and each hour brings more developments than a full day seemed to bring just a few weeks ago. On Wednesday morning, Facebook held a call with CEO Mark Zuckerberg to update the press on the steps the company has taken in response to the crisis to date. (Here’s the transcript.) Afterward, I spoke briefly with Zuckerberg about how the company is shifting its content moderation teams to handle the disruption, which I wrote about here yesterday.

Both on the press call and in talking with me, Zuckerberg emphasized his concern about a looming mental health crisis as people around the world are forced to stay apart from their friends and loved ones. And whether you are building social...

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